Circulating Neuroactive Steroid Levels in a Patient With Schizophrenia Who Showed Periodic Catatonia.

Catatonia is an abnormal psychological and behavioral state related to stress. The treatment strategy suggests the involvement of neuroactive steroids in its pathophysiology. We report a hospitalized patient with schizophrenia in whom a catatonic state occurred 7 times in 5.

The Lack of Alterations in Metabolites in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala, but Their Associations with Autistic Traits, Empathy, and Personality Traits in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) has shown inconsistent alterations in brain metabolites of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigated brain metabolites in the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala of 24 drug-naive adults with ASD and no intellectual disability and 24 non-ASD control subjects, using 3 T H-MRS. Adults with ASD showed no significant differences from control in glutamate, glutamate plus glutamine, N-acetylaspartate, glycerophosphorylcholine plus phosphorylcholine, creatine plus phosphocreatine, or myo-inositol in either region.

Allopregnanolone induces antidepressant-like effects through BDNF-TrkB signaling independent from AMPA receptor activation in a rat learned helplessness model of depression.

Allopregnanolone (ALLO, 3α5α-tetrahydroprogesterone) was found to be effective for depressed patients. Animal models of depression indicate that ALLO is associated with the pathophysiology of depression. Traditional antidepressant drugs produce antidepressant effects via the monoamine system, with consequent up-regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Monoaminergic balances predict non-depression-like phenotype in Learned Helplessness Paradigm.

Monoamine neuronal system abnormality is hypothesized to be the neurochemical pathology in depression, as it is supported by the efficacy of conventional antidepressants. The learned helplessness paradigm generates depression-like (LH) and non-depression-like (non-LH) behavioral models. Examination of the neurochemical states accompanying such distinct behavioral phenotypes can facilitate investigations of the mechanisms underlying resilience and the search for new strategies for depression prevention and therapy.

Hypothalamic Monoaminergic Pathology in a Neurodevelopmental Rat Model Showing Prenatal 5-Bromo-2'-Deoxyuridine Treatment-Induced Hyperactivity and Hyporeproductivity.

Objective: Prenatal treatment of rats with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) is a neurodevelopmental model showing hyperactivity and impaired sexual activity. Human neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, exhibit sex-related pathology, but sex-related neurodevelopment has not been fully investigated in this model. We conducted this study to facilitate the understanding of the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Switching to aripiprazole for the treatment of residual mutism resulted in distinct clinical courses in two catatonic schizophrenia cases.

Objectives: The efficacy of a partial agonist for the dopamine D receptor, aripiprazole, for catatonia in schizophrenia has been reported.

Methods: We report distinct clinical courses in challenging aripiprazole to treat residual mutism after severe catatonic symptoms improved.

Results: In the first case, mutism was successfully treated when the patient was switched from olanzapine to aripiprazole.

Risperidone long-acting injectable in the treatment of treatment-resistant schizophrenia with dopamine supersensitivity psychosis: Results of a 2-year prospective study, including an additional 1-year follow-up.

Unlabelled: Dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) resulting from antipsychotic treatment is related to treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), and its treatment has not been established to date. Maintaining thoroughly stable occupancy of the dopamine D2 receptor by risperidone long-acting injectable (RLAI) is one strategy for treatment. In this study, RLAI was given as an adjunctive medication to oral antipsychotic(s), which were switched partially and gradually to RLAI in 108 treatment-resistant patients for an additional 1-year follow-up in a 2-year study, and to compare the effects in 72 patients with a DSP history (DSP group) and 36 patients without this history (NonDSP group).

Distinct effects of the serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors milnacipran and venlafaxine on rat pineal monoamines.

Monoamine systems are involved in the pathology and therapeutic mechanism of depression. The pineal gland contains large amounts of serotonin as a precursor for melatonin, and its activity is controlled by noradrenergic sympathetic nerves. Pineal diurnal activity and its release of melatonin are relevant to aberrant states observed in depression.

Personality traits as predictors for the outcome of lithium augmentation in treatment-resistant depression.

The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were administered to patients with treatment-resistant depression (n=21) before lithium augmentation. Analysis showed that the poor outcome group (n=11) had lower openness scores on the NEO, and lower cooperativeness scores on the TCI compared with the good outcome group (n=10). These findings may be predictors of poor responsiveness to lithium augmentation in the treatment of antidepressant-resistant depression.

Mother/offspring co-administration of the traditional herbal remedy yokukansan during the nursing period influences grooming and cerebellar serotonin levels in a rat model of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Neurodevelopmental impairment in the serotonergic system may be involved in autism spectrum disorder. Yokukansan is a traditional herbal remedy for restlessness and agitation in children, and mother-infant co-administration (MICA) to both the child and the nursing mother is one of the recommended treatment approaches. Recent studies have revealed the neuropharmacological properties of Yokukansan (YKS), including its 5-HT1A (serotonin) receptor agonistic effects.

A study of remitted and treatment-resistant depression using MMPI and including pessimism and optimism scales.

Background: The psychological aspects of treatment-resistant and remitted depression are not well documented.

Methods: We administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to patients with treatment-resistant depression (n = 34), remitted depression (n = 25), acute depression (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 64). Pessimism and optimism were also evaluated by MMPI.

A prospective comparative study of risperidone long-acting injectable for treatment-resistant schizophrenia with dopamine supersensitivity psychosis.

Objective: Dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) is considered to be one cause of treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). The authors investigated the efficacy of risperidone long-acting injections (RLAI) in patients with TRS and DSP.

Method: This is a multicenter, prospective, 12-month follow-up, observational study that included unstable and severe TRS patients with and without DSP.

Low openness on the revised NEO personality inventory as a risk factor for treatment-resistant depression.

Background: Recently, we reported that low reward dependence, and to a lesser extent, low cooperativeness in the Temperature and Character Inventory (TCI) may be risk factors for treatment-resistant depression. Here, we analyzed additional psychological traits in these patients.

Methods: We administered Costa and McCrae's five-factor model personality inventory, NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), to antidepressant-treatment resistant depressed patients (n=35), remitted depressed patients (n=27), and healthy controls (n=66).

Personality traits as risk factors for treatment-resistant depression.

Background: The clinical outcome of antidepressant treatment in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) is thought to be associated with personality traits. A number of studies suggest that depressed patients show high harm avoidance, low self-directedness and cooperativeness, as measured on the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). However, the psychology of these patients is not well documented.

Differential levels of brain amino acids in rat models presenting learned helplessness or non-learned helplessness.

Rationale: Glutamatergic and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic abnormalities have recently been proposed to contribute to depression. The learned helplessness (LH) paradigm produces a reliable animal model of depression that expresses a deficit in escape behavior (LH model); an alternative phenotype that does not exhibit LH is a model of resilience to depression (non-LH model).

Objectives: We measured the contents of amino acids in the brain to investigate the mechanisms involved in the pathology of depression.

Add-on Lamotrigine Treatment for Subsyndromal Depression after Manic or Mixed States in Bipolar Disorder Improved the Quality of Life.

Two cases of patients experienced subsyndromal depression after manic or mixed hypomanic and depressive episodes due to bipolar I (case 1) and II (case 2) disorders prior to the use of lamotrigine. Case 1 showed episodes of mood switching induced by antidepressants and seasonal mood instability. Case 2 showed hippocampal atrophy and a persistent dull headache that preceded the use of lamotrigine.

Shared features of S100B immunohistochemistry and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry in the ventroposterior thalamus and lateral habenula in neonatal rats.

The ventroposterior thalamus and the habenular nuclei of the epithalamus are relevant to the monoaminergic system functionally and anatomically. The glia-derived S100B protein plays a critical role in the development of the nervous system including the monoaminergic systems. In this study, we performed an immunohistochemical study of glia-related proteins including S100B, serotonin transporter, and microtubule-associated protein 2, as well as cytochrome oxidase histochemistry in neonatal rats.

Abnormal brain function of the rat neonate in a prenatal 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU)-induced developmental disorder model.

Neonatal brain function was investigated in a prenatal BrdU-induced developmental disorder model, which has been reported to exhibit behavioral abnormalities such as locomotor hyperactivity, impaired learning and memory, and lower anxiety in offspring. After 1h home cage deprivation we observed an increase in the number of c-Fos (neuronal activity marker) immunoreactive cells in several brain regions of the olfactory and stress-related areas in normal neonates at 11 days. Next, pregnant rats were exposed to 50mg/kg of BrdU from gestation days 9-15, and their offspring at 11 days were home-cage deprived.

Delayed-onset obsessive-compulsive symptoms after brain infarctions treated with paroxetine.

A 68-year-old woman showed obsessive thought that she could not remember the names of people or items that she saw. She repeatedly asked her husband to recall names of unspecified people and checked the garbage to find the names of items. The patient had a history of cerebral infarctions in the left middle cerebral artery regions 2 and 15 months before the emergence of her symptoms.

Hyperactivity induced by prenatal BrdU exposure across several experimental conditions.

Behavioral results are sometimes not reproducible even in the positive controls of developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) tests. Effects of several factors on the results should be considered. In the present paper, we examined the effects of strain-, gender-, and test-condition differences on BrdU-induced hyperactivity.

Minocycline produced antidepressant-like effects on the learned helplessness rats with alterations in levels of monoamine in the amygdala and no changes in BDNF levels in the hippocampus at baseline.

Previous studies have indicated that minocycline might function as an antidepressant drug. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antidepressant-like effects of minocycline, which is known to suppress activated microglia, using learned helplessness (LH) rats (an animal model of depression). Infusion of minocycline into the cerebral ventricle of LH rats induced antidepressant-like effects.

Effects of the genotoxic agent 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine with or without pre-pubertal gonadectomy on brain monoamines and their metabolites in female rats.

A nucleotide analog 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) is a genotoxic compound. Previous studies have demonstrated that prenatal treatment of rodents with BrdU affects the development of cortical neurons, reduces dopamine levels, and elevates serotonin (5-HT) levels in the striatum in adult male offspring from BrdU-treated dams. Moreover, prenatal BrdU-treated rats show locomotor hyperactivity in both males and females.